Anne here. When I realized it was my turn to blog on New Year's Eve, I recalled that I'd blogged on New Year's Eve three years ago, in 2009-10. I did a quick search to check on what I'd said back then, because I didn't want to repeat myself. Instead I surprised myself. My 2009 post reflected on what had changed during the previous ten years, and rereading it, I am still surprised by how much our world has changed in such a short time. It's here if you want to read it. Scroll down for the part about the last ten years —there's a heading.

2013 has been a bit of a year of transition for me, difficult in some ways, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My plan for 2014 is to simplify my life, and to that end I've been tackling the clutter in my house — I'm even shedding books! I'm also stepping down from some other commitments, for instance from a Board of Management I've been part of for fifteen years. The plan is be open to new opportunities.

So that's it for me. I'm planning a very simple New Year's Eve celebration too -- just fish and chips on the waterfront, and watching the fireworks, though I'm not in Sydney where they have the most spectacular fireworks — you can't beat the harbour bridge and the stunning harbour setting, but I love fireworks of any kind.

How do you plan to see the New Year in? What has 2013 been like for you? And do you have any special hopes or plans for 2014?

I'm lucky enough to heat with wood in the winter, so I have a fire going in the stove for about five months out of the year. I'm a hippie refugee to the country, rather than real country folk like my grandparents, so my woodstove has a clear glass door. I get to watch the fire burn. It never fails to lift my spirits.

My son sent me some packets of fire color. You toss this in and the chemical -- this particular chemical is Cupric Sulfate -- makes the fire burn green-blue.

These pictures can only give you a small taste of how lovely the fire is. It's like the auroa borealis -- or

my dog, wildly excited about the colors

what I imagine the aurora borealis would look like. Seeing the Northern Lights is on my bucket list but I haven't managed to do it yet.

I understand the wood that floats in from the sea can just naturally burn with colors. That's something else I'd like to see.

Watching a fire burn is such a basic human kinda thing to do. I feel connected to my distant ancestors who no doubt sat around the fire working on their computers and playing video games far into the night as the wolves howled outside the cave.

Do you have a fireplace or woodstove or outdoor fire you get to watch?

Jo here, following Pat's Californian tree with a more traditional one -- the one that started it. The German people who'd married into the British royal family had brought the tradition with them, but it wasn't until the London Illustrated News in 1848 printed a picture of Victoria, Albert, and their young children with their tree that it became the rage.

And here's a variation on the tree, from much the same period.

There are some very odd Victoria pictures in a database I own. What do you think of this one? (You can click on it to see a bigger version.) To me, it looks as if she's trying to hang the child on the tree as a living Christmas fairy!

Okay, that is a truly terrible pun for this Boxing Day! Continuing our Word Wench tradition of celebrating Yuletide with short, fun posts every day between Christmas and Twelfth Night on January 6th, I decided to riff a bit on eggnog today.

There are many holiday specialty foods and drinks, and eggnog has a long, if somewhat fuzzy, history. It might have come from East Anglia and is a mixture of milk, sugar, eggs, cream, and spices. This being England, alcohol is generally added as well.

Eggnog also because very popular in the U.S., and there was an Eggnog Riot at West Point in 1826 when quantities of whisky were smuggled in for Christmas partying. One of those involved in the riot, though he wasn't court-martialed, was Jefferson Davis, the future president of the Confederacy. So eggnog can be dangerous!

Eggnog may be related to the medieval posset, in which hot milk is curdled with ale or wine and spices. According to Wikipedia, a posset "was considered a specific remedy for some minor illnesses, such as a cold, and a general remedy for others, as even today people drink hot milk to help them get to sleep." Caudle is a similar concoction.

I used to make an extravagantly rich Alabama Eggnog for holiday parties, though I gave it up when too many guests decided they couldn't consume sugar/eggs/milk/alcohol or whatever. It sure was good, though! Here's a similar recipe, though mine didn't include the brandy or the aging.

Commercial eggnogs are widely available at this season, and there is even a chocolate version. Adding a bit of rum or other spirits and dusting the top with nutmeg or cinnamon makes a pleasant and slightly decadent drink.

Another method is to thaw eggnog ice cream to make a delicious thick base for whatever one wants to add. so it can be as alcoholic or non-alcoholic as one wishes. I like just a dash of rum to cut the sweetness.

Are you a fan of eggnog? Have you had any this holiday season? If not--what's stopping you?!! <G>

Cara/Andrea here, Wishing everyone a joyous day filled with peace and love. This is traditionally a day to gather and make merry with family and friends, brightening the darkest days of the years with festive good cheer and sparkly decorations.

It's also a time for exchanging gifts, and giving thanks for our blessings. In that spirit, I'd love to share with you a small Holiday ormament made by my late mother, who was an amazing artist along with her many other talents. It's made out of vintage type ornaments and for me it not only celebrates the Season, but reminds me how she encouraged my love of reading from an early age. We shared countless hours through the years talking about stories and characters that entertained and inspired us. Reading taught me the joys of dreaming and using my imagination. That books are an important part of who I am is something I consider one of the great gifts in life.

Happy Holidays, Everyone! Thank you for being part of the Wench family! I hope books are among the presents sitting under the tree and in your stockings!

If you want to be picky about it, we're two days past the solstice, which was on December 21 this year, but I will just go ahead and talk about the Winter Solstice anyhow.

So. What is this Solstice I speak of?

Your ordinary woman in the Seventeenth or Eighteenth Centuries and in all the days right back to when women woke up and stretched and strolled out of the cave in Laxcaux, France, might watch the sunrise every morning.

Authorial intrusion here to say that I wake up every morning at sunrise because that is when the dog and cat wake up and they want my company. They are worried if I don't get up. They are determined.

But, anyhow, let's say our historical woman is shuffling through the farm yard to empty the chamberpots or feed the chickens. She notices the sun does not just get out of bed any old where along the horizon. When she stands on the doorstep in July, the sun is rising from that pointy pine over there.

Every morning the sun gets out of bed a little to the left of where it got up the morning before. Not enough so's you'd notice it from one day to the next. But enough so's you notice it over weeks and months.

In December when she drags herself out of bed and stands shivering at the door, there's the sun waking up all the way over next to the church spire.

That extreme, leftmost sunrise she sees, on December 21 or 22, is the Winter Solstice. From then on, day by day, the sunrise heads back in the other direction. Our New Year is tied to that astronomical event, being a little inexact about it.

But did our pre-tech ancestors know about the Solstice? And why would they care?

We are not talking quantum mechanics here. Our actually-very-bright ancestors were well aware that the change in where the sun rose was related to length of day. The shortest day of the year is . . . ta dah! . . . the Winter Solstice. In London, that means about eight hours of daylight. Six months later, the Summer Solstice, June 21, is the longest day, with over sixteen hours of sun. Well, folks noticed.They lined up Stonehenge with the solstices because they noticed.

The long and the short of it is, folks used these astronomical events in practical ways -- the Winter Solstice was a good time to slaughter beasts you couldn't afford to keep for the whole winter. And they celebrated.

The Solstice meant a long, cold, hungry time was still ahead, but from that date, every day was going to be a little longer. The sun had begun its journey back toward summer.

Is it any wonder folks celebrated this 'rebirth' of the sun with fire festivals? Traditional December celebrations often have a fire theme, linking to that ancient joy in the return of the sun.

In Northern Europe, on Santa Lucia's Day, young girls are crowned with lighted candles. The old Iranian festival of Yalda celebrates the birth of Mithra, the God of Light and Truth, associated with the sun. One custom calls for eating red-colored fruit, perhaps to bring to mind the red of the sunrise.

Yule, the big Midwinter celebration of Germanic peoples, involved feasting, blood sacrifice, getting as drunk as possible, and lighting bonfires. Four hundred years ago the 'Yule log' was dragged in -- a huge log, by preference -- by the men of the house, who were rewarded with free beer for this service. It's said households competed to see who had the largest log. Really, some things never change.

If you make or buy a Bûche de Noël dessert, that's a modern interpretation of the Yule Log. Much easier to drag one of those into the house or whip it up in the kitchen than to bring in a Yule log. In the spirit of author intrusion, I will say that I used to make these every year.

So, since we're celebrating the Season and enjoying the lights that remind us of the Solstice and the upbeat message it brings ...

What kind of Holiday lights and candles do you have out now or are just packing carefully away? Something beloved and traditional? Or do you like to experiment every year?

Sparky Tabasco goes where angels fear to tread. You'd think she would exercise caution around Dobermans and Boxers who outweigh her many times over, but as you can see by these pictures, she's turned those big dogs into her personal hot water bottle. Many's the time I've seen her wedge herself between the two dogs to take advantage of their body heat. Heck, now that winter's here, I've been tempted to join Sparky and the dogs myself!

SAWING LOGS

I suspect Sparky's semi-feral background has something to do with her choice of sleeping spots. Like most cats, she likes dark hidey-holes, but unlike most cats, her favorite hidey-hole is the wastepaper basket under my desk.

CATCHING SOME ZZZZZ'S

I've learned that if I suddenly realize Sparky has been missing for a couple of hours, I'll usually be able to find her sleeping in the wastepaper basket (or giving me the stink-eye for disturbing her sleep).

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS?

And finally, I leave you with an interesting picture. What is it? An out-of-focus picture of Christmas lights? UFOs hovering overhead? Fireflies? Headlights in the dark?

No. None of the above. This is what happens when you let the lens on your camera get dirty with bits of dust and a few raindrops. Take a flash picture in the dark, and you end up with something like this:

Anne here, and since it's almost Christmas, and it's 170 years since the first publication of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol (1843), I thought it might be fun to do a little quiz about Dickens and the writing of this perennially popular story.

To do this quiz you'll need a pen and paper to note your answers. Then click on the link at the end of the quiz and it will take you to the answer page. Check your scores and come back and tell us how you went. Have fun!

1) Dickens originally wrote A Christmas Carol:— a) because his wife was pregnant and he needed the money b) for a bet c) because his vicar asked him to write a morality tale d) to entertain his children

Nicola here. As a star features strongly in the nativity story it felt quite Christmassy to be talking about celestial bodies today. I love stargazing. Every night when I take Angus out for his bedtime walk I stand in the field at the bottom of the road and look up at the night sky. Most nights it’s cloudy, the British weather being what it is, but on maybe one night in five I can see the Milky Way stretching overhead like a ribbon dusted with diamonds. Seeing it is a magical experience.

At the end of November we were told that one of the greatest celestial spectacles of the century was on the way, the arrival of Comet Ison. Ison was a sungrazing comet, originating from the fabulously named Oort Cloud out on the furthest edges of our galaxy. It was scheduled to pass so close to the sun that it would “graze” it’s surface. It was then supposed to develop a huge tail that would be visible in the night sky with the naked eye, making it one of the most spectacular astronomical sights of the century. Unfortunately Ison flew too close to the sun. It was too small to survive the experience and instead of blazing a trail across the sky, it disintegrated.

It's Ask-A-Wench on the blog again, and this time we Wenches asked ourselves a question - in honor of December and the advent of winter, and the appearance of some unexpected snow here and there -- we got to chatting about winter, winter stories and writing winter settings:

Have you ever written a winter setting, and what do you find enjoyable and/or challenging about that? If you haven't, why not - and have you read a winter-set book that you particularly enjoyed?

I’ve lived in the northeast and midwest most of my life, and I have never, ever learned to appreciate the cold. If it snows, I hide inside by the fireplace. I love watching snow fall, and love the beauty of ice coating the trees, but do not ask me to go out in it. I’ve spent too many cold winter nights huddling around a kerosene heater with a flashlight for reading to appreciate the inevitable lack of electricity. And the last time we were caught in a blizzard, we spent eight hours off the side of an interstate waiting for help. Nope, not doing that anymore.

That said, the experience has certainly made me aware of the discomforts our historical heroines suffer in winter! I’ve written quite a few winter novellas (two of which are currently in Mischief and Mistletoe and Christmas Roses) and many of my historicals torment my characters with cold (the Magic Man reissue does snow and Scotland). I torture my characters with weather!

The above picture shows Sparky chumming up with my new rescue Doberman, Kyanne. Notice that Kyanne has a large dog bone. Kyanne doesn't like to share her bones. Sparky doesn't care. She wants to be friends with Kyanne, and by golly, she will be! That cat thrives on danger! (Thankfully, Kyanne is good-natured around cats.)

TREADMILL TABBY

Not satisfied with putting her life in potential danger by trying to steal a bone from a possessive Doberman, Sparky decided to conquer the treadmill. It didn't take her long to get the hang of it, since she'd been watching me to see how it's done. The first few days she kept shooting off the end of the machine, but determination is her middle name, so she persisted, as evidenced by the below series of pictures, taken over several days.

Let's see, front feet first . . .

Whoa! Doing the splits!

Maybe if I come in from the side . . .

Well, THAT didn't work. Let's try it this way.

Perhaps if I just leap onto the machine . . .

Well, that didn't work. How about this?

Okay, here goes. Final attempt.

SUCCESS! There's no stopping me now!

(Remember, to view larger versions, just click on any picture. Sorry for the dinky size of the above pictures. Typepad is being contrary and won't let me resize them or place them side-by-side instead of in a vertical column.)

Hi, Jo here. I'm writing about social unrest. Not just here, but in a novel.

(It would be useful if Charlie and Billy could really work on my books when I'm not there! Or perhaps not -- depending on what they came up with.)

I follow a timeline in my more recent novels. I didn't in my first books, the traditional Regencies, which I think it the usual thing in most Regency romances. Some of Georgette Heyer's are fixed against events in the war, but most could be in any year.

My Company of Rogues books were pinned to time from the beginning, however, because the plot links to the time around Napoleon's abdication in 1814. Having begun, I had to continue because the seasons and pregnancies clearly mark the passage of time. I've written 16 books set between 1814 and 1817, and the time between them is often very small, but I'm pushed onward. And here I am in 1817, with peacetime bringing economic depression, unemployment, and a high cost of living.

And social unrest.

I didn't intend to become embroiled, until a man slipped into a lady's bedroom in an inn, clearly avoiding people pursuing him with unpleasant intentions.

Apples grow well in Upstate New York, where I was raised, and fresh pressed apple cider was a favorite autumn treat. Sometimes we'd drive out to a cider mill in a rambling old barn and buy it fresh from the press. The result was tangy, cloudy with apple particles, and delicious. Even as a kid, I found cider more tasty than apple juice, which was filtered to clearness, too sweet, and not very interesting.

Sometimes the cider would turn a little "hard," meaning fermentation was adding a bit of alcoholic kick, but for us, it was basically a non-alcoholic beverage. I still enjoy this kind of cider, and if I have guests around the holidays, I'll often heat up a gallon, adding whole spices like stick cinnamon and cloves and allspice. I'll also slice up an orange into pretty round circles and simmer it all together for a hot cider punch. Nice!

Cara/Andrea here,With holiday shopping in full swing, I’ve been busy perusing the stores for the perfect gifts for those on my list. It’s fun to try to find something unique and special to match the interests of family and friends. But I confess, as I’ve been searching around for others, I’ve also amused myself by compiling a wish list for myself—assuming Santa Claus is feeling VERY generous. (Hey, I’ve been VERY good this past year!) So, here is my Top Ten list of rare book treasures that I’d love to add to my library:

Birds of AmericaJohn James Audubon’s first edition of Birds of America (known as the double elephant folio because of its size) is considered the finest book of ornithological illustrations ever created. It was a very expensive project to print—Audubon had to do a lot of self-promo around Europe to sell subscriptions to fund it. The cost was $1,000, a very princely sum in the 1820s. But it turned out to be a wise investment (A copy sold last year at Christie’s for $7.9 million)

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili Printed by the legendary Aldus Manutius in Venice at the end of 1499, HP is the first illustrated book printed with Gutenberg’s newly invented moveable type. It’s strange, dream-like text has puzzled scholars over the centuries, but collectors agreed that it’s the most beautiful of all incunabula (books printed before 1500.) The perfectly proportioned layout, the lovely woodcuts and the elegant typeface—a classic design that is still in use today—make it one of the most famous examples of book design in history. (A copy recently sold at auction for $473,321.)

Alfred Tennyson’s Poems Known as the Moxon Tennyson, this edition was published by Edward Moxon in 1857. It’s famous for its 54 beautiful wood engravings designed by eight noted artists of the day, including Pre-Raphaelites William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. One critic called it a “pocket cathedral. (A copy is available from a rare book dealer for $2,500.)

The Kelmscott Chaucer Published in 1896, The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer—known today as The Kelmscott Chaucer—was a joint labor of love by William Morris, a luminary of the artistic and intellectual scene in late 19th century Britain, who designed the typeface and intricate borders, and his good friend Edward Burne-Jones, one of the leaders of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who did the illustrations. It’s considered by many to be the most beautiful book ever published. (A copy was recently sold at auction for $160,000.)

Pride and Prejudice Published in 1813, Jane Austen’s classic was released in three small volumes—and of course when on to become one of the most popular novels in the English language. (A copy is available on ebay for $65,000.)

The History of the Royal Residences of Windsor Castle, St. James Palace, Carlton House, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court, Buckingham House and Frogmore Writer/artist William Henry Pyne often collaborated with Rudolph Ackermann on projects for Ackermann’s magazines, but he became fascinated with book publishing and was inspired to create this book on the royal residences, published in 1809. It includes 100 lovely color illustrations. (A copy is for sale at Bauman Rare Books in NYC for $17,000.)

The Golden Cockerel Press edition of The Four GospelsDesigned and illustrated by the legendary 20th century graphic designer Eric Gill, the Four Gospels was his homage to the Medieval art of the illuminated manuscript. It’s considered one of the highlights of modern book design. (A copy, one of only 12 that were printed on vellum, recently sold at auction for $132,00. A paper first edition sells for about $4,700.)

Le Chant des Morts A collaboration between poet Pierre Reverdy and his friend Pablo Picasso, the book—which was published in 1948—features handwritten poems written during World War Two, with bold graphic illustrations by the master artist. (A copy recently sold for $7,500.) Don Juan Lord Byron’s epic satirical poem, which had an unfinished 17th canto at the time of his death, is considered by many critics to be his masterpiece. (A complete set in original boards of the 16 Cantos in seven volumes recently sold for $16,800.)

The Fabulous Flight Written and illustrated by the great Robert Lawson, it’s a children’s classic that was first published in 1949. I vividly remember it from my childhood—it’s a marvelous story that held me captivated, and looking back, I think it was one of the reads that taught me the power of storytelling. The illustrations are delightful too, which appealed to the art side of my brain. (A collector’s first edition is available on Amazon for $75.)

So what about you? If you could find any book treasure among the brightly wrapped holiday gifts, what would it be?Or perhaps there's some other special treasure on your ultimate Wish List—please share it with Santa's elves!

Christmas is coming! As you can tell by the picture, Sparky is getting into the spirit of things. The bathtub is one of her favorite playgrounds, and that's where she takes many of her toys. Yesterday she raided the box where I keep bows and ribbons and carted off two of the bows to the bathtub, where she sounded like a herd of elephants as she played. It's hard to tell in the above picture, but Sparky has just tossed the green bow and I snapped the picture as it flew through the air.

A RED MOHAWK

The next two pictures show Sparky wearing a red bow that makes it look like she's sporting a mohawk. She was Not Happy when I stuck the bow on her head, as evidenced by the severe frown in the second picture. (Look at her downturned mouth!)

RIBBON SLAYER

The next two pictures show Sparky carrying the green bow in her mouth and leaping up to snag a bit of curling ribbon that I dangled enticingly above her head. In the second picture, I caught her in mid-leap. All her feet are off the ground. It took her 2 seconds to shred that ribbon! I can hardly wait until she discovers the presents under the Christmas tree--all of them wrapped in ribbons and bows!

P.S. In case you didn't know, you can click on any of the above pictures to get a larger version.

1) Readers want books that publishers have ignored for years.2) I can make more money on e-pubbing my backlist than I made when I first sold the books.3) If publishers don’t intend to keep a book in the store or sell it on-line, then they should automatically revert those rights to the authors so the authors can put the books out there for readers to find. To do otherwise is just plain rude.4) Social media is a time suck and I’m bad at it, but readers are beautiful and respond when I stutter abominably.5) All those geeks who declared that information just wants to be free are now driving Lamborghinis and wearing Rolexes by selling advertising.

Anne here. One of the things I find most fascinating about history is that it tends to repeat itself. For instance, most people would scoff at the notion that there are strong parallels between the growth of the e-publishing revolution and publishing in the Victorian era.

The Victorian era, you say? Parallels with e-publishing? In what way?

In the Victorian era, developments in technology allowed cheap, widespread production of print media which in turn led to a boom in publishing. Fiction also experienced a boom as stories serialized in magazines and newspapers became cheaply and easily available to a much wider audience.

In the 21st century, technological advances in electronic communications have led to a massive e-publishing boom. Serial publishing is also a feature of much current e-publishing.

Mention writers like Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and others and we all nod. Some of us even have their books on our shelves, though they were published more than a hundred years ago. We tend to assume that in the past, people purchased and read complete books, as we have for most of our lifetimes. But in fact, many of the first writers of popular fiction reached their initial audience through serialized stories published in newspapers and magazine.

Nicola here, celebrating the month of December. I have mixed feelings about this month; on the one hand I find it hard to get out bed on these cold, dark mornings and would quite like to hibernate, but on the other hand I love the sense of anticipation about the holiday season!

December was the tenth month of the Roman calendar which is why its name is derived from the Roman "decem" for ten rather than "duodecim" for twelve. The Anglo Saxons called the month "wintermonath" before their conversion to Christianity and "Heligbmonath," holy month, afterwards. Other ancient names refer to the winter festival of yule.

The traditional December weather here in the UK is usually fairly mild and damp, bearing little resemblance to the "white Christmas" snowy scenes on the Christmas cards. However in recent years there has been more chance of cold, frosty days in December and we are promised frost and possibly snow from the end of this week. Elsewhere in the world, of course, Christmas can be hot and sunny. (Sighs with envy).

What? No picture of Sparky??? The above photo is merely to set the stage for the Sparky tale that follows. This is one end of my office. Notice the brass lamp on the right with a white shade. It's one of those lamps that turns on by tapping your finger anywhere on the lamp base. Very handy--unless you happen to have a mischievous half grown kitten.

Lately I'd noticed the lamp was turned on all by itself. This happened several times. I checked the cord, checked the lightbulb, tapped the base a few times, and all seemed to be okay. Huh. Weird. And then last week I discovered the cause: Sparky Tabasco.

So, all I have to do is touch the lamp with my paw . . .

Getting into position for a little mischief.

Little Miss Innocence. Who turned on the light? Gosh, beats me!

Wow, everything looks brighter with the lamp on! Now, let's see if I can break Mom's new treadmill

P.S. Yes, Sparky did manage to break my treadmill the second day I had it!